Education in the UK: The English School System

Overview of the Presentation

1. REPUTATION OF EDUCATION
2. HISTORY OF EDUCATION
3. SCHOOL LIFE
4. STRUCTURE OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
5. EARLY YEARS EDUCATION
6. PRIMARY SCHOOLS
7. SECONDARY SCHOOLS TYPES AND GCSE
8. HIGHER EDUCATION
9. FURTHER EDUCATION

UK Education System

In the UK education is overseen by the Department for Education The Secretary of State for Education is currently the Rt Hon Gillian Keegan. The DfE's headquarters are at Sanctuary Buildings in Westminster. The Department for Education is responsible for children's services and education, including early years, schools, higher and further education policy, apprenticeships, and wider skills in England. It was formed in 2010 merging the Department for Children, Schools, and Families and the Department for Innovation, Universities, and Skills. It was renamed the Department for Education in 2016 when responsibility for skills and higher education was transferred to the newly created Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.

Department for Education Structure

There is no common educational oragnisation for the whole of the UK and the individual countries have significant degrees of independent self-government in educational matters. The Department for Education oversees the schools in England together with the Local Education Authorities (LEAs). In Wales, education is controlled by the Cabinet Secretary for Education. In Scotland, the Scottish Government and its executive agency Education Scotland oversee the functioning of schools and the Education Authority is responsible for delivering education services across Northern Ireland.

Reputation of Contemporary Education

International comparisons by organizations such as the OECD (Organisation for the Economic Co- operation and Development) have suggested that Britain does not rank highly for the quality of its secondary schools and that British 13-to-14-year-olds lag behind comparable pupils in most European countries. British pre-school and primary state school education have also had a poor reputation with a lack of high-quality nurseries and low-qualified and underpaid staff and poor working conditions at primary school levels.

OFSTED Report and Literacy Rates

In 2005 OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education) reported that half of the children leaving state primary schools didn't have the basic skills in reading/writing and arithmetic. This may result in some functionally illiterate pupils passing on to the secondary level. A National Skills Task Force in 2000 reported that 7 million adults (1 in 5) in Britain were illiterate, although some think tank reports suggest this proportion could now be higher. Low standards of literacy and numeracy stem in large part from decades of inadequate state school education.

OECD 2020 Report and PISA Scores

According to OECD 2020 report in the UK 82% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education. The average in OECD countries is 79% (in Italy it's 63%). However, education rates speak little about the quality of education and the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reviews the extent to which students have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in modern societies. In 2018, PISA focused on examining students' reading ability, skills in maths and level in sciences, as research shows that these skills are more reliable predictors of economic and social well-being than the number of years spent in school. The average student in the United Kingdom scored 503 in reading literacy, maths and sciences, above the OECD average of 488.

History of Education in the UK

The history of education in Britain starts with the arrival of Christianity and as early as 597 St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, founded a cathedral school in Canterbury to teach Latin and religious texts. The King's School is Britain's oldest public school and is arguably the oldest continuously operating school in the world. A public school in England and Wales is a fee-charging private school. They are 'public' in the sense that they are open to everybody irrespective of locality, religion, or paternal profession. Historically public schools are associated with the ruling class. In Scotland, a public school is synonymous with a state school

Evolution of Schools

Church schools initially prepared boys for the priesthood, but their role as the sole providers of education grew over time, and for centuries the Church had the monopoly of education. Secular schools were established periodically by rich individuals or monarchs and were independent and privately financed and were variously known as high schools, grammar schools and public schools. In the 16th century, King Edward VI created new grammar schools and William Shakespeare attended one of these, the grammar school in Stratford-upon-Avon. Such schools were largely confined to the sons of the rich, aristocratic and influential. From the 16th century Dames schools were privately run by a 'dame' or a local woman who taught local children reading and arithmetic, sometimes also writing. These were precursors of primary schools.

18th and 19th Century Education

In 18th-century England, education was largely reserved for a wealthy, male minority and was not compulsory. The wealthy educated their children privately at home, with hired governesses or tutors for younger children. During the Industrial Revolution, wealthy industrialists created schools for working-class boys and girls. Different charity oragnisations also provided education, such as the London Ragged School Union established in 1844. It provided free education, food and clothing in working districts. However, only a minority of lower-class children received a basic instruction In the 19th century education was still largely provided by the Church and both the Protestant and Roman Catholic Church created Sunday Schools. By 1831 1,250,000 children in Great Britain, or about 25 percent of the eligible population, attended Sunday schools weekly. The schools provided basic lessons in literacy alongside religious instruction

Elementary Education Acts

I, the undersigned, Hereby call a Meeting of the Rate Payers and others of the Parish of Biddenden, who may be interested in the question, at the National Schools, on Saturday next, the 16th day of February, at half-past Ten o'clock in the forenoon. For the Purpose of taking the necessary steps to procure Bye-Laws respecting the at- tendance of Children at School under Section 74 of the Elementary Education Act, 1870, for the parish of Biddenden. Hiddenden. 9th February, 1878. W. H. TYLDEN-PATTENSON.

In the 19th century, local governments began to be interested in providing some kind of education. In 1833 Parliament funded the construction of school buildings. In 1870 the Education Act (the Forster Act) created local school boards in England and Wales that financed the building of elementary schools. It is the first time that a state-funded school system is created. Such state elementary schools provided education for children between the ages of 5 and 12.

1944 Education Act (Butler Act)

The 1944 Education Act (the Butler Act) indroduced the modern split between primary and secondary schools in England and Wales (in 1947 in Scotland and Northern Ireland). State schooling became free and compulsory up to the age of 15 and was divided into three stages: 1. primary schools (5-11 years) 2. secondary schools (11-15 years) 3. further post-school training The Act created a decentralized system in which a Ministry of Education drew up policy guidelines and local education authorities (LEA) decided on the types of schools to set up in their area.

Secondary School System Post-1944

The 1944 Education Act divided state secondary schools into (except for Scotland): 1. grammar schools 2. secondary modern schools 3. technical schools The entry into these secondary schools depended on an exam, the eleven-plus examination that consisted of intelligence tests that covered linguistic, mathematical and general knowledge and was taken at the end of primary school at the age of 11. The aim was to differentiate between academic and non-academic children: those who passed the eleven-plus went to grammar schools, while those who failed went to either secondary modern schools that focused on basic schooling or to technical schools for vocational training. Grammar schools were equated with a better education and qualified children for higher education or better jobs. The 1944 Act intended to provide a universal free education that would lead to a better-educated society. The selective secondary school system, however, maintained social divisions and a class system.

Comprehensive Schools and Curriculum Reform

In 1965 The Labour government introduced comprehensive schools to which all children would automatically transfer after primary schools. This would provide schooling for children of all ability levels and from all social backgrounds. Comprehensive schools were not compulsory and LEAs were able to choose which secondary school would best suit local needs. In England and Wales, some 164 grammar schools remain, while in Scotland all secondary schools are comprehensive. In 1988 The Education Reform Act adopted a National Curriculum which made it compulsory to schools to teach certain subjects and syllabuses. Previously the choice of subjects had been up to the school In 2013 the Education and Skills Act 2008 came into force, requiring all young people in England to stay on in education or training at least part-time until they are 17 years old, with this extended to 18 years in 2015

UK Education System Overview

The school system in the UK is divided into four parts- primary education, secondary education, higher education, and further education. A fifth part is the early years education.